25 replies to this topic

[LS Kite Stakes]

Been lurking for about a week, thought I would join and add what I can. I am 45, and have flown various kites off and on all my life. When I was a preteen, I had a Scott's sled with about 2000 feet of 25# mono to fly it on. I had it out so far, it was a just a tiny dot in the sky. I have had a dual line "Skynasaur" for about 20+ years, still fly it occasionally. It is a old fiberglass rod kite that is heavy and takes a lot of wind to get it aloft. I was checking out the newer kites and remembered seeing a quad line kite about 10 years ago. It was similar to a Rev, was a solid red color, and about 16 inches wide. So I made the mistake of looking at quads, found the Rev, and now I am about $240 lighter and waiting on a 1.5 SLE to be shipped to me.

Now for a question. I have not seen mentioned any use for spectra fishing line, such as spiderwire. Is this a line one could use, or would there be problems with it? I did get lines with my kite, do not plan to use spiderwire anytime soon. I just thought it would be interesting to see what you guys would say.

I will be on the side, checking in once in a while!

[Kitelife]

Welcome to the family mate!

FYI, I highly recommend you check out a 1/4" leading edge for that SLE kite and research "tuning" knots for the handles.

TONS of info on both these topics in the Rev forums.

Really, these two details will totally improve your experience, as others will shortly attest to.

[Sailor99]

You will he a whole lot more than $240 lighter sometime real soon;)

I am not familiar with Spiderwire but the consensus seems to lee that monofilament lines are a waste of time for kiting. If it is woven spectra it would be ok probably but you will get alot more stretch. As such it seems to be a bit of a pain.

There is nothing better than Laser Pro Gold or Climax at the end of the day.

[big bri]

Morning JB/Morning Sailor,and welcome to the forum rs67man.

Fishing line.Ther are loads of threads on the topic of lines and which or what is best to use.,but basically the opinion seems to be,use a the best you can aford,,,LPG[laser pro gold]or SHANTI,and CLIMAX, seem to be the top two used.Generally because they are quality.Low stretch in the lines ive mentioned is excellent.I use LPG mainly and make my own sets up from a bulk spool.Ther are a few retailers that are very good over your side of the pond and will help you out im sure.They post regular on the forum,nice people.
Ive never used fishing line personally,except for catching crabs .
The forum is freindly and you wont be short of answers to any questions you have.Have a search around in some old topics and threads.
Also think about your line lengths and strengths.Again,thers more than a few top class opinions on here and im sure more will follow

AS A RULE

80ft x 90lb-for solo flying
100ft x 90lb-general use and pairs flying
120ft x 90lb for team stuff
Thats what i use,i also have a 40ft set for low wind.A 120 ft set also for low wind that have a lower breaking strain[50lb].Its very fine,like cotton almost and has very little drag to aid the low wind flying.

Hope that helps

BRIAN...

[Sailor99]

Good morning to you too Brian

In the early days of quad flying there is something to be said for some 80ft 150lb too. They slow the kite down a touch, which makes the learning easier. But they certainly are not as useful as the 90lb's that Brian mentioned, and unless one is the sort of person who has enough resources to be able to think of money as rather vulgar, there are probably better things you can spend your money on. The 1/4inch frame John talks about for instance. But if someone had no further use for a 150lb set, I should grab them!

[Kitelife]

90# is what iQuad uses 90% of the time.

We'll use 50# in extremely light wind, or 150# in anything over 20 mph.

Of course, the tuning I referred to earlier is crucial... It increases control, and reduces pull.

[outsync]

Welcome to the darkside m8

I hope the wait for your new baby is not gonne be to long.
I still remember me counting the hours, minutes when my b serie was shipped.

I'm leaving for a trip to US next week and hoping to bring some new kites ( rev's ofc) back home.


Good Winds,

John

[Jonesey]

Sorry guys got up late! And Welcome RS67Man .... As a relative newbie myself I have quickly come to the conclusion that I don't really need to think or experiment too much with different kit ... these guys have done the hard work and figured out what's right as you can see from the comments above...

What's in the bag works and the additions/add-ons (rods etc) all do what they say on the tin ....... Get yourself a set of race rods, some #90 lines and concentrate on the important bit .... learning to fly the thing like these guys do!

Have fun

[Sailor99]

What's in the bag works and the additions/add-ons (rods etc) all do what they say on the tin ....... Get yourself a set of race rods, some #90 lines and concentrate on the important bit .... learning to fly the thing like these guys do!

Sound as a pound as advice goes. If finances are limited the race rods can wait. The important thing is getting out there and flying. Have a look at John's handle tuning hints. There are several threads round here about adding leaders onto your handles and it does help a lot, as well as only costing dimes.

[Choccy]

FYI, I highly recommend you check out a 1/4" leading edge for that SLE kite and research "tuning" knots for the handles.

Welcome

Flying with handles that are already "tuned" make all the difference to enjoying the kite

It has been a while since I opened my SLE package that I cannot remember what/where (Company) the "free" lineset and handles came from.

JB> If it was from "Rev" then it wouldn't hurt to maybe consider putting a little note in with the SLE "free" handles/lineset (in UK) describing the "tuning" knots for the handles. (Just an idea).

Not everyone knows about this forum to get all the excellent advice.
Or are lucky enough to have a met a pro at a kite festival who can tie the extra knots in for you

Enjoy your flying experience,

[Jonesey]

Oh and RS67Man .... Ive been watching your avatar for an hour now and still havent seen the Rev ...

[Aerochic]

Welcome to the forum, RS!

The first thing you need to do as JB suggests is swop those SLE rods out for 1/4"(3wraps). Most people, myself included, have found precious few circumstances for those SLEs to be beneficial. 3wraps cover alot of ground and make learning easier when you're starting out. Trust me on that!

Otherwise, you're going to get alot of great advice on this forum. Definitely start out with 90# lines, and knotted handles. If your set doesn't come with pre-knotted handles, let me recommend this article on how to do it yourself: http://www.kitelife....ons45/index.htm The Kitelife site is in the process of being revamped, so you may have to wait awhile to be able to access that. Also, if you didn't buy a vented rev, that probably will be your next purchase!

[stevepigeon]

Welcome to the Rev family RS. You'll find this forum full of infomation and new friends.

I found it very helpful to find fliers in my area and fly with them as often as I could. Flying with more experienced fliers made me a better flier.


Again welcome...

[LS Kite Stakes]

Thank you all for the replies! I will definitely check out the 1/4 rods when the $ is available. Since I live in the same corner of the globe, who knows, I might run across JB at some event at Ocean Shores or Long Beach. Yes, waiting for this kite to arrive has made it seem like I have entered a time warp, the days are longer and I swear there are more of them in a week! I have used the "no stretch" spectra fishing line when fishing for halibut. I hooked bottom with my rig and actually pulled a sea anemone off of the rock it was on. I was using 100# test woven, and that is what sold me on spiderwire from then on.

[Mike]

Hi and welcome!
In my opinion the most important thing to do is to put the knots on the handles. Especially when flying an SLE.

If the site linked to above doesn't work soon, post back here and we'll tell ya how to do it. Its easy, cheap, and will make your early flying experience much more satisfying.

[steve_hobart]

Hi and welcome!
In my opinion the most important thing to do is to put the knots on the handles. Especially when flying an SLE.

If the site linked to above doesn't work soon, post back here and we'll tell ya how to do it. Its easy, cheap, and will make your early flying experience much more satisfying.

Hi Mike RS67Man and all.

Being an EXTREMELY new newbie on this forum(!) I have followed this thread with great interest.
Mike, the kitelife link that you referred to on knotted handles doesn't work. Do you have an update link that you could provide? I would like to configure my handles in the way that you are suggesting as I have already seen the need for this in my first few flights of my 1.5 SLE (for which I have ordered an EXP leading edge!)

cheers

steve

[Jonesey]

Hi Mike RS67Man and all.

Being an EXTREMELY new newbie on this forum(!) I have followed this thread with great interest.
Mike, the kitelife link that you referred to on knotted handles doesn't work. Do you have an update link that you could provide? I would like to configure my handles in the way that you are suggesting as I have already seen the need for this in my first few flights of my 1.5 SLE (for which I have ordered an EXP leading edge!)

cheers

steve

Steve....

John is working his bo$%ox off to get the new kitelife site up this weekend so stand by to stand by ... its worth waiting for (helpful I know!) I followed it verbatim when I got my first rev..... all those weeks ago

[Watty]

Thank you all for the replies! I will definitely check out the 1/4 rods when the $ is available. Since I live in the same corner of the globe, who knows, I might run across JB at some event at Ocean Shores or Long Beach. Yes, waiting for this kite to arrive has made it seem like I have entered a time warp, the days are longer and I swear there are more of them in a week! I have used the "no stretch" spectra fishing line when fishing for halibut. I hooked bottom with my rig and actually pulled a sea anemone off of the rock it was on. I was using 100# test woven, and that is what sold me on spiderwire from then on.

Hey RS. Hope you will be going to WSIKF this year. I'd love to get some flight time with you, however, (don't quote me on this) I heard that JB will be in China or Japan or something durring WSIKF, but there will still be a bunch of other rev fliers.

The main problem with any type of fishing line, is that it stretches almost non-stop. The problem with stretching is that with a rev, the lines will stretch unevenly. This can cause some serious porblem when trying to fly.

[steve_hobart]

Steve....

John is working his bo$%ox off to get the new kitelife site up this weekend so stand by to stand by ... its worth waiting for (helpful I know!) I followed it verbatim when I got my first rev..... all those weeks ago

Jonesey, thanks for letting me know !!


Now, all I need is some wind this long weekend........currently 11.30 am and not a breath.................the 1.5 SLE is getting twitchy for some air time !!


cheers

steve

[Sailor99]

I am sure kitelife will be sorted soon. But just to keep you going here are some pics:

http://www.revkites....u...=si&img=777
http://www.revkites....u...=si&img=778

The top leader is about 190mm with the knots in. So I should start off with some light bridle line about 400-420mm. Tie the knots (simple thumb knots) every 15mm or so. Larks head onto the top of your handle. The bottom leader is about 80mm when knotted and only has the two knots in. Getting the exact length is not totally critical, but ensuring the knots are in the same place from the 'loop' end on each top leader and each bottom leader is important. If they are out then you will end up with unbalanced line lengths effectively. However, it is child's play to just jiggle the knots up and down the leader a little bit once they are all made.

Hope this helps pro temp.